Serious Sam 2 Demo - Sam is Back!

Post by **skipclarke** » 21 Sep 2005, 20:19

I'm playing the Serious Sam 2 demo to right now - two thumbs up for this one, it was definitely worth the wait. The demo level is a riot - literally - it reminds me of a cartoonish version of Coruscant. :D

I let the game auto-detect my settings, and am currently playing at 1280x960. There is a widescreen option, but it makes the game go windowed.

Edit update: I think the widescreen options are working now. There are resolutions for 20 inch widescreens (i.e. 1680x1050) all the way up to 24" (1920x1200) displays.[/b]

herman368 · Post by **herman368** » 21 Sep 2005, 20:46

I cant get it to work at 1680x1050 it doesnt fit the screen (black bars left and right). When I select widescreen to on I think it does 16:9 so it has black bars top and bottom.

Post by **skipclarke** » 21 Sep 2005, 20:59

Ah, I think I spoke to soon.

I tested it first on 1680x1050 and noticed them. I then tried it on my monitor's native resolution (1920x1200) and still get those black bars. Odd huh?

I notice there are two options in the video menu, Widescreen and Fullscreen.

If I choose "Yes" in widescreen and "Yes" in fullscreen then the menu stretches to that aspect, but in-game gives me those black bars. If I choose "Yes" in widescreen but "No" in fullscreen the game goes into windowed mode, and then crashes when it tries to load up the level. Its been a while since I played the original Serious Sam or the sequel, but I think Sam II had options for widescreen mode that also created those "Cinematic" black bars on the top and bottom.

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » 22 Sep 2005, 03:52

It most certainly supports widescreen, need to play with the settings some since it doesnt look too hot, but here's a teaser:

branndo · Post by **branndo** » 22 Sep 2005, 05:16

It's pretty fun! But a little console-ish. I cannot do that silly jumping puzzle though :)

The widescreen option just stretched the screen for me, black bars top and bottom. I only had two widescreen resolutions, 1600x1050 and 1920x1200, which this machine cannot handle!

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 22 Sep 2005, 10:53

Hi guys ...
Although there are widescreen options in the graphics setup menu the game most certainly does not support widescreen properly.
Ignoring the black borders the game has the same problem as Battlefield 2 in that the top and bottom get chopped off rather than adding extra view to the sides.

Some screenshots ...
Click the thumbnails to enlarge ... even when enlarged these screenshots are not at the true resolution.

1600x1200 - widescreen - Yes
This stretches to fill the screen ... with black bars top and bottom ...

1600x1200 - widescreen - No
This stretches to fill the screen ... without the black bars

1920x1200 - widescreen - No
The same as the previous (1600x1200 - widescreen - No) but with black bars on the sides ...

1920x1200 - widescreen - Yes
The view is not wider ... the top and bottom of the view is chopped off.
AND there are black bars limiting the view even further...

You can get less black bars at the top and bottom but it does not give you a wider FOV.
Go to ... F:Serious Sam 2 DemoContentSeriousSam2 and edit the Sam2.ini ...
Change the line ... gfx_fAspectRatio = 1.3333;
To ... gfx_fAspectRatio = 1.6666;

May be there is a solution to this but I can't find it.
What a shame ... Serious Sam the Second Encounter did widescreen so well ...
I used to run it at 3840x1024 everything at Max on my old Parhelia ... without any black bars and the correct FOV ... OOTB.

Post by **skipclarke** » 23 Sep 2005, 22:46

Wow! Now that's what I call a thorough examinaton. Thanks for posting those screens, Paddy.

It's issues like these that really tend to stymie widescreen gaming. I have a feeling that quite a few consumers who have recently bought widescreen displays are playing games which they *think* are in widescreen, but in reality are either stretched aspect ratios or simply wider screens with no change in FOV.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 24 Sep 2005, 12:07

Hi Stretch ...
Glad you liked my "examination" ... :D

... are playing games which they *think* are in widescreen.

This is why I think comparison screenshots are so important.

Great word ... stymie ... 8)

Post by **skipclarke** » 24 Sep 2005, 21:37

hehe, many thx....

Awesome specs, btw. You know, we have almost identical rigs. :wink:

Only difference on mine is the PSU (Antec Neo Power 480w), Case (Antec p180) and HDD's (running two 7200.7 160gb Seagate drives in RAID 0).

johnnyr · Post by **johnnyr** » 14 Oct 2005, 19:35

Solution!

In your Sam2.ini file, under fxAspectratio Line, change it to 1.6. This will get rid of all the bars. Note that this is only for those using 16:10 moniters.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 14 Oct 2005, 20:14

Solution!

Getting rid of the black bars is not a solution ... :(.... unfortunately.
The FOV is no wider and the top and bottom of the view is chopped off ... see the screenshots above ... :wink:

BTW ... you can get rid of the double post by clicking on the "X" on the top right next to "edit" ... :wink:

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 14 Oct 2005, 22:30

I dealt with the double post - it seems as if some members have no options on the top right of their posts other than 'Quote'.

JetSonic · Post by **JetSonic** » 15 Oct 2005, 22:48

Screw the DEMO, buy the game!!!!!!!!!!!! It's out as of Oct 11

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 15 Oct 2005, 22:53

Great ... but does it do true widescreen ? ... :wink:

Widescreen Gaming Forum